Social Media

Facebook on Nintendo DSi: A Small Glimpse of the Future

At E3, both Microsoft and Nintendo announced plans to utilize Facebook Connect on their console gaming platforms. Starting later today, the first such integration goes live, as Nintendo DSi owners will get the ability to upload photos from their device to Facebook.

This is essentially exactly how Facebook’s applications for iPhone, BlackBerry, and other mobile devices work, integrating with the device’s camera to allow one-click photo uploads. In the case of the DSi, the upload will have to be done over WiFi.

Although this integration isn’t nearly as sexy as some of the other possibilities – for example, being able to compete in games with your Facebook friends – it does highlight the beginning of what looks to be a major trend, which is having social networking identities extend far beyond the Web.

Xbox Live, which plans to integrate both Facebook Connect and Sign-in With Twitter, plans a more robust feature set including in-game screenshot and achievement uploading as well as syncing your Facebook Xbox Live friend lists. Meanwhile, Verizon FiOS customers already have Facebook and Twitter apps they can use to compliment their TV viewing with social features.

Put simply, between social networks, portable identities, mobile, and Internet connected devices, expect a lot more to come in the way of intersection between gadgets and social media. As for DSi owners eager to get the Facebook photo uploading feature, Nintendo says that it "will be available after 5 p.m. Pacific with a free downloadable system update."

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